South was anxious to see the dummy, but he was pleased with what he saw. North had done well with his massive hand and the contract was reasonable.

West shifted to a low spade at trick two. Considering East's opening bid and West's opening lead, the spade king was sure to be offside. South played the nine from dummy, losing to the 10. East shifted to the nine of trumps, won in dummy with the ace and declarer continued with the trump king. When trumps failed to split 2-2, South started on clubs. He cashed the ace and king, then ruffed a club in hand.

Now Playing:

A heart was now ruffed on the table, followed by another club ruff, establishing the long club. Declarer could ruff his last heart in dummy, but he could not return to hand to draw the last trump and drifted down one.

This contract could have been made with careful timing. South was correct to draw two rounds of trumps, but the second round should have been low to his jack. A heart ruff on the board would come next and he could then start on the clubs. Ace, king and a club ruff as before, but note the difference in timing. Declarer could now ruff his last heart with dummy's trump king and then ruff a club back to hand. The long club would be established and he would be in the right hand to draw the last trump, shedding the queen of spades from dummy.